STUDENT NOTES FOR CH. 18 HIS122

CHAPTER 18 Business and Politics in the Gilded Age, 1865-1900 The American Promise A History of the United States CHAPTER 18 Business and Politics in the Gilded Age, 1865-1900

Railroads: America’s First Big Business Expanding on a Nationwide Scale—Military conquest of America’s inland empire and the dispossession of Native Americans paved the way for an elaborate new railroad system; by 1900, the United States boasted over 193,000 miles of railroad track: privately owned but publicly financed by enormous land grants  

The Communication Revolution The telegraph, developed by Samuel F. B. Morse How did the telegraph transform business?

Andrew Carnegie 1. Andrew Carnegie and Carnegie Steel— Rise of Carnegie Gave away more than $300 million before he died, most notably to public libraries/discuss 2. What kind of employer was he? 3. Who was his only rival? – John D. Rockefeller, titan of the oil industry

John D. Rockefeller 1. Rockefeller’s Tactics—John D. Rockefeller founded the Standard Oil Company in 1870; while he was the largest refiner in Cleveland, Rockefeller demanded secret rebates from the railroads in exchange for his steady business; enabled him to undercut his competitors. 2. Tarbell’s Exposé—Journalist Ida B. Tarbell exposed Rockefeller’s unsavory business practices in a series of articles that appeared in McClure’s magazine from 1902 to 1905; contributed to the American people’s unfavorable opinion of Rockefeller as the symbol of heartless monopoly.

The Telephone and Electricity Alexander Graham Bell—A Scottish immigrant; invented a way to transmit voice over wire—the telephone; soon Americans were communicating locally and across the country with long-distance telephone service. 2. Thomas Alva Edison—Embodied the old-fashioned virtues of Yankee ingenuity and rugged individualism that Americans most admired; pioneered the use of electricity as an energy source; electricity became a part of American urban life by the late nineteenth century.

J. P. Morgan 1. The “Money Trust”—John Pierpont Morgan loathed competition and sought to eliminate it by substituting consolidation and central control; dominated American banking and exerted an influence so powerful that his critics charged he controlled a vast “money trust.” 2. Reorganizing the Railroads—Morgan acted as a power broker in the reorganization of the railroads and the creation of industrial giants such as General Electric and U.S. Steel 3. Challenging Carnegie—In 1898, Morgan turned to the steel industry, directly challenging Andrew Carnegie; supervised mergers of several smaller companies that expanded to compete with Carnegie; purchased Carnegie Steel for $480 million. 4. A New Corporate World—The acquisition signaled the passing of one age and the coming of another: Carnegie represented the old entrepreneurial order, Morgan the new corporate world; in 1901, Morgan pulled Carnegie’s competitors into a huge new corporation, United States Steel, the largest corporation in the world.  

Sectionalism and the New South 1. The Solid South?—Voters in the old Confederate South remained loyal Democrats. Voted for Democratic candidates in every presidential election for the next seventy years 2. The New South—How was the South’s economy affected by the war? After the war, what was the North experiencing ? Where did many Southerners go and why? 3. South still dominated what industry?

Gender, Race, and Politics 1. Limited Access to the Public Sphere—blacks continued to face discrimination, especially in the New South 2. Ida B. Wells and the Anti-lynching Movement

Women’s Activism 1. The National Woman Suffrage Association 2. Women found ways to act politically 3. Temperance movement 4. Woman’s Christian Temperance Union in 1874. 5. The Limits of Women’s Politics

Corruption and Party Strife The Election of 1880—Hayes managed to alienate all factions in his party and decided not to seek reelection in 1880; the Republicans nominated a dark-horse candidate, James A. Garfield, and Chester A. Arthur, to be his running mate; Garfield won.  

Garfield’s Presidency and Civil Service Reform Garfield’s Brief Presidency—Garfield, like Hayes, faced the difficult task of remaining independent while pacifying the party bosses and placating the reformers; He only lasted less than four months in office! WHY?? 2. Calls for Reform—The public soon joined the chorus demanding reform, which came with the passage of the Pendleton Civil Service Act in 1883; brought some fourteen thousand jobs under a merit system that required examinations for office and made it impossible to remove jobholders for political reasons.

Reform and Scandal: The Campaign of 1884 1. Blaine versus Cleveland—James G. Blaine assumed leadership of the Republican Party after Garfield’s assassination and captured the presidential nomination in 1884; the Democrats’ candidate, Grover Cleveland, the reform governor of New York. Cleveland won the election, and the Democrats won back the White House after twenty-five years of Republican rule.

Railroads, Trusts, and the Federal Government Federal Regulation—Americans increasingly agreed on the need for federal regulation of the railroads and federal legislation against the trusts The Interstate Commerce Commission—The Supreme Court proved hostile to state efforts to regulate the railroads; prompted Congress to pass the Interstate Commerce Act (1887), which created the nation’s first federal regulatory agency, the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). The Sherman Antitrust Act—Concern over the growing power of the trusts led Congress to pass the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890; outlawed pools and trusts but the Supreme Court gutted this act, severely restricting its scope.

Panic and Depression The Panic of 1893—In 1893, President Cleveland had scarcely begun his second term in office when the nation fell into a deep economic depression; it appeared that the U.S. Treasury might not be able to meet its obligations and fall into bankruptcy. Morgan’s Plan—J. P. Morgan suggested a plan whereby a group of bankers would purchase $65 million in U.S. government bonds, paying in gold; Cleveland accepted. Continued Hardship—The press claimed incorrectly that both the president and Morgan reaped tremendous financial benefits from this transaction; Cleveland could not save the country from hardship as the depression continued.